Social media boosts online advertising revenues

A report by the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) published today stated that the the impact of social media was a major boost to the online advertising industry.

According to the IAB, spending on social networks represented 14 per cent of the internet advertising industry's expenditure in 2010. A figure which rose by 200 per cent compared to that of 2009. Among these internet platforms, Facebook UK is said to have made £100m in advertising revenues.

The report stated revenues obtained through displays on social networks had undergone a 27.5 per cent year-on-year growth in 2010. Meanwhile, the Internet advertising industry grew by 14 per cent as a whole, reaching £4bn billion revenues.

Social networks appear to be gaining ground on the main engine of online advertising, which is paid-for-search displays - mainly on search engines such as Google. The share of the industry's expenditure on these type of ads went down from 61 per cent to 57 per cent in 2010, however the paid-for-search market increased by 8 per cent, reaching £2.35bn in the same period.

Online advertising has overcome the television display market, whose revenues reached £3.5 billion in 2010. However, the sector underwent a strong comeback after being harshly hit by the recession in 2009, achieving a 15 per cent year-on-year growth.